Server, printing system, information processing method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

ABSTRACT

In a case where a second image processing device is designated as an image processing device used in printing according to a printing job, a printing control unit transmits a printing request to a second printing service system only when the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printing instruction of a second user, and in a case where a first image processing device is designated as an image processing device used in printing according to the printing job, the printing control unit transmits a printing request to the second printing service system regardless of the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printing instruction of which user.

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JPApplication Serial Number 2022-126318, filed Aug. 8, 2022, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a server, a printing system, aninformation processing method, and a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium.

2. Related Art

A printing system implemented by combining different systems on anetwork is known. For example, JP-A-2022-038375 discloses a printingsystem implemented by combining a first cloud printing service systemand a second cloud printing service system. The printing system furtherincludes a cloud printing management service system that serves as abridge between the first cloud printing service system and the secondcloud printing service system. The cloud printing management servicesystem associates a virtual printer registered in the first cloudprinting service system with a printing device registered in the secondcloud printing service system, thereby enabling the printing device toperform printing via the first cloud printing service system and thesecond cloud printing service system.

However, in the technique disclosed in JP-A-2022-038375, when theprinting device performs printing via the first cloud printing servicesystem and the second cloud printing service system, the printing deviceintended to be used only by a specific user may be used by a user otherthan the specific user.

SUMMARY

A server according to the present disclosure is connected to a firstprinting service system and a second printing service system, the secondprinting service system being connected to a first image processingdevice and a second image processing device. The server includes: aregistration reception unit configured to acquire a registrationinstruction of the first image processing device from a first userhaving a first right or a registration instruction of the second imageprocessing device from a second user having a second right that is aright more restricted than the first right; a registration unitconfigured to register the first image processing device in the firstprinting service system when the registration instruction of the firstimage processing device is acquired, and register the second imageprocessing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the second image processing device isacquired; and a printing control unit configured to transmit a printingrequest to the second printing service system according to a printingjob from the first printing service system. In a case where the secondimage processing device is designated as an image processing device usedin printing according to the printing job, the printing control unittransmits the printing request for requesting printing by the secondimage processing device to the second printing service system only whenthe printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printinginstruction of the second user, and in a case where the first imageprocessing device is designated as an image processing device used inprinting according to the printing job, the printing control unittransmits the printing request for requesting printing by the firstimage processing device to the second printing service system regardlessof the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printinginstruction of which user.

A printing system according to the present disclosure includes a firstprinting service system, a first image processing device, a second imageprocessing device, a second printing service system connected to thefirst image processing device and the second image processing device,and a server connected to the first printing service system and thesecond printing service system. The server includes: a registrationreception unit configured to acquire a registration instruction of thefirst image processing device from a first user having a first right ora registration instruction of the second image processing device from asecond user having a second right that is a right more restricted thanthe first right; a registration unit configured to register the firstimage processing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the first image processing device isacquired, and register the second image processing device in the firstprinting service system when the registration instruction of the secondimage processing device is acquired; and a printing control unitconfigured to transmit a printing request to the second printing servicesystem according to a printing job from the first printing servicesystem. In a case where the second image processing device is designatedas an image processing device used in printing according to the printingjob, the printing control unit transmits the printing request forrequesting printing by the second image processing device to the secondprinting service system only when the printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing instruction of the second user, and in acase where the first image processing device is designated as an imageprocessing device used in printing according to the printing job, theprinting control unit transmits the printing request for requestingprinting by the first image processing device to the second printingservice system regardless of the printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing instruction of which user. The first imageprocessing device or the second image processing device executesprinting processing based on the printing request.

An information processing method according to the present disclosure isan information processing method for a server connected to a firstprinting service system and a second printing service system, the secondprinting service system being connected to a first image processingdevice and a second image processing device. The information processingmethod includes: acquiring a registration instruction of the first imageprocessing device from a first user having a first right or aregistration instruction of the second image processing device from asecond user having a second right that is a right more restricted thanthe first right; registering the first image processing device in thefirst printing service system when the registration instruction of thefirst image processing device is acquired, and registering the secondimage processing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the second image processing device isacquired; and transmitting a printing request to the second printingservice system according to a printing job from the first printingservice system. In processing of transmitting the printing request, in acase where the second image processing device is designated as an imageprocessing device used in printing according to the printing job, theprinting request for requesting printing by the second image processingdevice is transmitted to the second printing service system only whenthe printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printinginstruction of the second user, and in a case where the first imageprocessing device is designated as an image processing device used inprinting according to the printing job, the printing request forrequesting printing by the first image processing device is transmittedto the second printing service system regardless of the printing job isa printing job corresponding to a printing instruction of which user.

In a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a programaccording to the present disclosure, the program causes a computer toexecute following steps, the computer being a computer of a serverconnected to a first printing service system and a second printingservice system, the second printing service system being connected to afirst image processing device and a second image processing device. Thesteps include: a registration reception step of acquiring a registrationinstruction of the first image processing device from a first userhaving a first right or a registration instruction of the second imageprocessing device from a second user having a second right that is aright more restricted than the first right; a registration step ofregistering the first image processing device in the first printingservice system when the registration instruction of the first imageprocessing device is acquired, and registering the second imageprocessing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the second image processing device isacquired; and a printing control step of transmitting a printing requestto the second printing service system according to a printing job fromthe first printing service system. In the printing control step, in acase where the second image processing device is designated as an imageprocessing device used in printing according to the printing job, theprinting request for requesting printing by the second image processingdevice is transmitted to the second printing service system only whenthe printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printinginstruction of the second user, and in a case where the first imageprocessing device is designated as an image processing device used inprinting according to the printing job, the printing request forrequesting printing by the first image processing device is transmittedto the second printing service system regardless of the printing job isa printing job corresponding to a printing instruction of which user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of aprinting system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of afirst printing service system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of asecond printing service system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of arelay server according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of aterminal device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of animage processing device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sequence chart illustrating an example of a flow ofcredential information storing processing.

FIG. 8 is a sequence chart illustrating an example of a flow ofcredential information updating processing.

FIG. 9A is a sequence chart illustrating an example of a flow ofpersonal printer registration processing.

FIG. 9B is a sequence chart illustrating the example of the flow of thepersonal printer registration processing.

FIG. 9C is a sequence chart illustrating the example of the flow of thepersonal printer registration processing.

FIG. 10A is a sequence chart illustrating an example of a flow of sharedprinter registration processing.

FIG. 10B is a sequence chart illustrating the example of the flow of theshared printer registration processing.

FIG. 10C is a sequence chart illustrating the example of the flow of theshared printer registration processing.

FIG. 10D is a sequence chart illustrating the example of the flow of theshared printer registration processing.

FIG. 11A is a sequence chart illustrating an example of a flow ofprinting processing.

FIG. 11B is a sequence chart illustrating the example of the flow of theprinting processing.

FIG. 11C is a sequence chart illustrating the example of the flow of theprinting processing.

FIG. 12 is a sequence chart illustrating an example of the flow of theprinting processing, in particular, a sequence chart illustrating anexample of notification processing executed each time a job statechanges.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to thedrawings. To clarify description, the following description and drawingsmay be omitted and simplified as appropriate. In the drawings, the sameelements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repetitivedescription thereof is omitted as necessary.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of aprinting system 10 according to an embodiment. The printing system 10includes a first printing service system 100, a second printing servicesystem 200, and a relay server 300. FIG. 1 also illustrates a terminaldevice 400 and image processing devices 500_1, 500_2, and 500_3, and theterminal device 400 and the image processing devices 500_1, 500_2, and500_3 are communicably connected to the printing system 10.

In the following description, the image processing devices 500_1, 500_2,and 500_3 are referred to as an image processing device 500 when thedevices are not particularly distinguished from one another. A systemincluding the terminal device 400 may be referred to as the printingsystem 10. Similarly, a system including the image processing device 500may be referred to as the printing system 10.

The first printing service system 100 and the second printing servicesystem 200 are systems that provide printing services on a cloud. Thefirst printing service system 100 is a system related to a serviceprovided by a first vendor, and the second printing service system 200is a system related to a service provided by a second vendor differentfrom the first vendor. For example, the second vendor is a vendor thatmanufactures the image processing device 500. The image processingdevice 500 is a device having a function of performing printingprocessing, and specifically is a printer in the embodiment. In theembodiment, the image processing device 500 is registered in the secondprinting service system 200 in advance as a device capable of executingprinting processing of a printing job managed by the second printingservice system 200. The terminal device 400 is a client terminal such asa personal computer (PC), a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. The relayserver 300 is a server that serves as a bridge between the firstprinting service system 100 and the second printing service system 200,and relays processing in the printing system 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the first printing service system 100 and thesecond printing service system 200 are communicably connected to eachother. The relay server 300 is communicably connected to the firstprinting service system 100 and the second printing service system 200.The image processing device 500 is communicably connected to the secondprinting service system 200. The terminal device 400 is communicablyconnected to at least the first printing service system 100 and therelay server 300. In addition to the above-described connectionrelationships, more connection relationships may be established betweencomponents. For example, the terminal device 400 may be communicablyconnected to the second printing service system 200. Although threeimage processing devices 500 are illustrated as an example in FIG. 1 ,the number of the image processing devices 500 using the printing system10 may be freely set. Similarly, although one terminal device 400 isillustrated as an example, the number of the terminal device 400 usingthe printing system may be freely set.

As described above, both the first printing service system 100 and thesecond printing service system 200 are systems that provide printingservices on a cloud. Therefore, when a printer is registered in aprinting service system, the printer can perform printing via theprinting service system. For example, printing based on an instructionfrom the terminal device 400 can be performed by a printer registered ina printing service system. However, when the printer is not a printer ofa model compatible with a protocol used by the printing service system,the printer cannot be directly registered in the printing servicesystem. In the embodiment, the image processing device 500 is compatiblewith a protocol used by the second printing service system 200, and canbe directly registered in the second printing service system 200. On theother hand, the image processing device 500 is not necessarilycompatible with a protocol used by the first printing service system100.

In the embodiment, a printer registered as a virtual printer (a virtualdevice) in the first printing service system 100 is associated with theimage processing device 500 registered in the second printing servicesystem 200, so that printing can be performed by the image processingdevice 500 via the first printing service system 100. Such anassociation is performed by the relay server 300. That is, the imageprocessing device 500 is substantially registered in the first printingservice system 100 by using the relay server 300. Although the imageprocessing device 500 owned by a user at home or the like is a printerof a model that is not compatible with a protocol of the first printingservice system 100, the user may want to perform printing using theimage processing device 500 by using a printing service provided by thefirst printing service system 100. Examples of such a case include acase where installation of a printer driver of the image processingdevice 500 required in the second printing service system 200 is notnecessary in the first printing service system 100. Of course, the usermay want to perform printing using the image processing device 500 byusing the first printing service system 100 for any other reason. Insuch a case, the image processing device 500 needs to be substantiallyregistered in the first printing service system 100 by using the relayserver 300. The first printing service system 100 provides a printingservice using, for example, Internet printing protocol sharedinfrastructure extensions (IPP-Infra) as the protocol described above,and the second printing service system 200 provides a printing servicewithout using the protocol.

Next, configurations of the first printing service system 100, thesecond printing service system 200, the relay server 300, the terminaldevice 400, and the image processing device 500 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of thefirst printing service system 100. Although the first printing servicesystem 100 is implemented by one server in the example illustrated inFIG. 2 , the first printing service system 100 may be implemented by aplurality of servers.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the first printing service system 100includes a storage unit 110, a communication unit 120, and a controlunit 130.

The storage unit 110 is a storage device that stores a program forrealizing processing of the control unit 130 and data to be used inprocessing of the first printing service system 100. The storage devicemay be a nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk or a flashmemory, or may include a memory such as a random access memory (RAM).The storage unit 110 may include a database. The communication unit 120is a communication interface for communicating with other devices suchas the second printing service system 200, the relay server 300, and theterminal device 400 via a wireless network or a wired network. Thecontrol unit 130 is a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU)that controls components of the first printing service system 100. Thecontrol unit 130 may include a plurality of processors. The control unit130 reads a program into a memory and executes the program. Accordingly,the control unit 130 implements functions of an authentication controlunit 131, a printing control unit 132, and an information managementunit 133.

The authentication control unit 131 performs various kinds of processingrelated to authentication of a user who uses the first printing servicesystem 100. A user of the first printing service system 100 includes auser serving as an administrator and a user serving as a general userwho is not an administrator. A user serving as an administrator can alsobe referred to as a user having an administrator right. A user servingas a general user may also be referred to as a user having a user rightthat is a right more restricted than the administrator right. In theembodiment, such users are registered in the first printing servicesystem 100 in advance. The authentication control unit 131 provides apage for authentication on a web browser 451 to be described later,performs authentication for an administrator or a general user, andissues a token necessary for accessing predetermined information managedby the first printing service system 100. Specific processing of theauthentication control unit 131 in the embodiment will be describedusing a sequence chart to be described later.

The printing control unit 132 executes control processing for a printerregistered in the first printing service system 100 to perform printing.In the embodiment, the printing control unit 132 executes controlprocessing when the image processing device 500 corresponding to avirtual printer registered in the first printing service system 100performs printing, and the printing control unit 132 may execute controlprocessing when, instead of a virtual printer, a physical printerdirectly registered in the first printing service system 100 performsprinting. Specifically, in the embodiment, the printing control unit 132executes processing of receiving a printing request from the terminaldevice 400, processing of transmitting information required to performprinting according to the printing request to the relay server 300,processing of notifying the terminal device 400 of a job state and aprinter state, and the like. Specific processing of the printing controlunit 132 in the embodiment will be described using a sequence chart tobe described later.

The information management unit 133 executes processing of registering aprinter in the first printing service system 100. The informationmanagement unit 133 manages information related to a user registered inthe first printing service system 100 and information related to aprinter registered in the first printing service system 100. In theembodiment, the information management unit 133 particularly manages,for example, a printer name, a printer ID, capability information, andsharing information of a registered printer as the information relatedto a printer. Various kinds of information related to a printer arereferred to as attribute information. The information management unit133 may further execute processing of registering a user in the firstprinting service system 100. Specific processing of the informationmanagement unit 133 in the embodiment will be described using a sequencechart to be described later.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of thesecond printing service system 200. Although the second printing servicesystem 200 is implemented by one server in the example illustrated inFIG. 3 , the second printing service system 200 may be implemented by aplurality of servers.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the second printing service system 200includes a storage unit 210, a communication unit 220, and a controlunit 230.

The storage unit 210 is a storage device that stores a program forrealizing processing of the control unit 230 and data to be used inprocessing of the second printing service system 200. The storage devicemay be a nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk or a flashmemory, and may include a memory such as a RAM. The storage unit 210 mayinclude a database. The communication unit 220 is a communicationinterface for communicating with other devices such as the firstprinting service system 100, the relay server 300, and the imageprocessing device 500 via a wireless network or a wired network. Thecontrol unit 230 is a processor such as a CPU that controls componentsof the second printing service system 200. The control unit 230 mayinclude a plurality of processors. The control unit 230 reads a programinto a memory and executes the program. Accordingly, the control unit230 implements functions of an authentication control unit 231, aprinting control unit 232, and an information management unit 233.

The authentication control unit 231 executes various kinds of processingrelated to authentication. For example, the authentication control unit231 executes processing related to authentication for a printerregistered in the second printing service system 200 and processing ofissuing a token necessary for accessing predetermined informationmanaged by the second printing service system 200. Specific processingof the authentication control unit 231 in the embodiment will bedescribed using a sequence chart to be described later.

The printing control unit 232 executes control processing for the imageprocessing device 500 that is a printer registered in the secondprinting service system 200 to perform printing. Specifically, in theembodiment, the printing control unit 232 executes processing ofreceiving a printing request from the relay server 300, processing oftransmitting information necessary for performing printing according tothe printing request to the image processing device 500, processing ofnotifying the relay server 300 of a job state, and the like. Specificprocessing of the printing control unit 232 in the embodiment will bedescribed using a sequence chart to be described later.

The information management unit 233 manages information registered inthe second printing service system 200. In particular, in theembodiment, the information management unit 233 manages informationrelated to the image processing device 500 that is a printer registeredin the second printing service system 200. In particular, in theembodiment, the information management unit 233 manages, for example,attribute information such as a printer name and capability informationof the registered image processing device 500 as information related tothe image processing device 500, that is, information related to aprinter. The information management unit 233 may execute processing ofregistering the image processing device 500 in the second printingservice system 200. Specific processing of the information managementunit 233 in the embodiment will be described using a sequence chart tobe described later.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of therelay server 300. Although the relay server 300 is implemented by oneserver in the example illustrated in FIG. 4 , the relay server 300 maybe implemented by a plurality of servers. The relay server 300 may bereferred to as a server.

As illustrated in FIG. 4 , the relay server 300 includes a storage unit310, a communication unit 320, and a control unit 330.

The storage unit 310 is a storage device that stores a program forrealizing processing of the control unit 330 and data to be used inprocessing of the relay server 300. The storage device may be anonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk or a flash memory, andmay include a memory such as a RAM. The storage unit 310 may include adatabase. The storage unit 310 stores, for example, an administratoraccess token and a refresh token that are credential information aboutan administrator, a correspondence relationship between a virtualprinter and the image processing device 500, a correspondencerelationship between a printing job of the first printing service system100 and a printing job of the second printing service system 200, and aregistration user ID to be described later. The communication unit 320is a communication interface for communicating with other devices suchas the first printing service system 100, the second printing servicesystem 200, and the terminal device 400 via a wireless network or awired network. The control unit 330 is a processor such as a CPU thatcontrols components of the relay server 300. The control unit 330 mayinclude a plurality of processors. The control unit 330 reads a programinto a memory and executes the program. Accordingly, the control unit330 implements functions of an authentication control unit 331, aprinting control unit 332, a registration reception unit 333, aninformation acquisition unit 334, and a registration setting unit 335.

The authentication control unit 331 executes various kinds of processingto receive authentication by the first printing service system 100 andvarious kinds of processing to receive authentication by the secondprinting service system 200. Specifically, the authentication controlunit 331 executes processing of acquiring a token (an administratoraccess token, a refresh token) necessary for accessing predeterminedinformation managed by the first printing service system 100 andprocessing of acquiring a token necessary for accessing predeterminedinformation managed by the second printing service system 200. Specificprocessing of the authentication control unit 331 in the embodiment willbe described using a sequence chart to be described later.

The printing control unit 332 performs control processing for the imageprocessing device 500 to perform printing, the image processing device500 being a printer registered in the second printing service system200, that is, a printer registered in the first printing service system100 using a virtual printer. The printing control unit 332 executesprocessing of acquiring information required for printing from the firstprinting service system 100, processing of transmitting a printingrequest to the second printing service system 200 based on the acquiredinformation, processing of notifying the first printing service system100 of a job state and a printer state, and the like. Specificprocessing of the printing control unit 332 in the embodiment will bedescribed using a sequence chart to be described later.

As will be described later with reference to a sequence chart, theprinting control unit 332 has a function of acquiring a job state aboutprinting processing executed by the image processing device 500 from thesecond printing service system 200. Therefore, focusing on thisfunction, the printing control unit 332 may be referred to as anacquisition unit. As will be described later using a sequence chart, theprinting control unit 332 has a function of transmitting a job state tothe first printing service system 100 when the job state is acquiredfrom the second printing service system 200 and a function oftransmitting a state of the image processing device 500 to the firstprinting service system 100. Therefore, focusing on these functions, theprinting control unit 332 may be referred to as a transmission unit.Further, as will be described later using a sequence chart, the printingcontrol unit 332 has a function of determining a state of the imageprocessing device 500 based on the job state acquired from the secondprinting service system 200. Therefore, focusing on this function, theprinting control unit 332 may be referred to as a device statedetermination unit.

The registration reception unit 333 executes processing of acquiring aregistration instruction for instructing to register the imageprocessing device 500 in the first printing service system 100. Specificprocessing of the registration reception unit 333 in the embodiment willbe described using a sequence chart to be described later.

The information acquisition unit 334 executes processing of acquiringuser information from the first printing service system 100. In theembodiment, the information acquisition unit 334 acquires, for example,a user name that is a name of a user managed by the first printingservice system 100 as the user information. The information acquisitionunit 334 executes processing of acquiring printer information that isinformation about the image processing device 500 from the secondprinting service system 200. In the embodiment, the informationacquisition unit 334 acquires, for example, a printer name that is aname of the image processing device 500 managed by the second printingservice system 200 as the information about the image processing device500. Specific processing of the information acquisition unit 334 in theembodiment will be described using a sequence chart to be describedlater. The registration setting unit 335 executes processing ofregistering the image processing device 500 in the first printingservice system 100. Focusing on this function, the registration settingunit 335 may be referred to as a registration unit. In the embodiment,specifically, the registration setting unit 335 registers the imageprocessing device 500 in the first printing service system 100 byexecuting processing of registering a virtual printer associated withthe image processing device 500 in the first printing service system100. When the image processing device 500 is registered in the firstprinting service system 100, the registration setting unit 335 executesprocessing of setting information managed by the first printing servicesystem 100, that is, attribute information related to the imageprocessing device 500. Focusing on this function, the registrationsetting unit 335 may be referred to as a setting unit. In theembodiment, the first printing service system 100 executes registrationprocessing only in response to a registration request with anadministrator right, and does not permit registration in response to aregistration request without an administrator right. In the embodiment,the first printing service system 100 executes attribute informationsetting processing only in response to a setting request with anadministrator right, and does not permit setting in response to asetting request without an administrator right. Therefore, theregistration setting unit 335 executes processing of registering theimage processing device 500 in the first printing service system 100using credential information corresponding to an administrator right.Similarly, the registration setting unit 335 executes processing ofsetting attribute information managed by the first printing servicesystem 100 using credential information corresponding to anadministrator right. In particular, as will be described later, when theregistration reception unit 333 acquires a registration instruction froma general user, the registration setting unit 335 performs theabove-described processing using credential information corresponding toan administrator that is stored in the storage unit 310 in advance.Although the administrator right is required to execute the registrationprocessing in the embodiment as described above, the administrator rightis not necessarily required. Specific processing of the registrationsetting unit 335 in the embodiment will be described using a sequencechart to be described later.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of theterminal device 400. As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the terminal device 400includes a storage unit 410, a display unit 420, an input unit 430, acommunication unit 440, and a control unit 450.

The storage unit 410 is a storage device that stores a program forrealizing processing of the control unit 450 and data to be used inprocessing of the terminal device 400. The storage device may be anonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk or a flash memory, andmay include a memory such as a RAM. The display unit 420 is a device fordisplaying information, and is, for example, a display such as a flatpanel display. The input unit 430 is a device that receives an inputoperation from a user, and is, for example, a keyboard or a mouse. Thedisplay unit 420 and the input unit 430 may be integrally implemented bya touch panel or the like. The communication unit 440 is a communicationinterface for communicating with other devices such as the firstprinting service system 100 and the relay server 300 via a wirelessnetwork or a wired network. The control unit 450 is a processor such asa CPU that controls components of the terminal device 400. The controlunit 450 may include a plurality of processors. The control unit 450reads a program into a memory and executes the program. Accordingly, thecontrol unit 450 implements functions of a web browser 451, a printingrequest unit 452, and a state output unit 453.

The web browser 451 is a known web browser, and in the embodiment, theweb browser 451 executes processing of displaying a web page provided bythe first printing service system 100, the relay server 300, or the likeon the display unit 420, processing of transmitting information input tothe displayed web page, and the like. Specific processing of the webbrowser 451 according to the embodiment will be described using asequence chart to be described later.

The printing request unit 452 executes processing of requesting printingin response to an operation from a user. In the embodiment, inparticular, the printing request unit 452 requests the first printingservice system 100 to perform printing. Specific processing of theprinting request unit 452 in the embodiment will be described using asequence chart to be described later.

The state output unit 453 acquires a job state and a printer state to bedescribed later via the first printing service system 100, and executesprocessing of outputting the job state and the printer state. Althoughthe state output unit 453 outputs a job state and a printer state to thedisplay unit 420 in the embodiment, the states are not necessarilyoutput by displaying. For example, the state output unit 453 may outputthe job state and the printer state by voice or the like. Specificprocessing of the state output unit 453 according to the embodiment willbe described using a sequence chart to be described later.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of theimage processing device 500. As illustrated in FIG. 6 , the imageprocessing device 500 includes a storage unit 510, a communication unit520, a printing unit 530, and a control unit 540.

The storage unit 510 is a storage device that stores a program forrealizing processing of the control unit 540 and data to be used inprocessing of the image processing device 500. The storage device may bea nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk or a flash memory, andmay include a memory such as a RAM. The communication unit 520 is acommunication interface for communicating with other devices such as thesecond printing service system 200 via a wireless network or a wirednetwork. The control unit 540 is a processor such as a CPU that controlscomponents of the image processing device 500. The control unit 540 mayinclude a plurality of processors. The control unit 540 reads a programinto a memory and executes the program. Accordingly, the control unit540 implements a function of the printing processing unit 541.

The printing processing unit 541 executes processing for performingprinting by the printing unit 530. The printing processing unit 541notifies the second printing service system 200 of a job state of aprinting job. Specific processing of the printing processing unit 541 inthe embodiment will be described using a sequence chart to be describedlater.

The printing unit 530 has a printing function for forming an image on aprinting medium such as paper. The printing unit 530 includes a printingengine. The printing engine is a mechanical configuration that prints animage on a printing medium using a color material. The printing enginemay include, for example, a mechanism that performs printing using inkby an ink jet method. Alternatively, the printing engine may include,for example, a mechanism that performs printing using toner by anelectrophotographic method. The printing engine may include a conveyancemechanism that conveys the printing medium.

The image processing device 500 may further include a user interfacesuch as a touch panel display. In the embodiment, as described above,the image processing device 500 includes the printing unit 530 and has afunction as a printer. Therefore, the image processing device 500 isalso referred to as a printer.

Next, a processing flow of the printing system 10 will be describedusing sequence charts.

First, a processing flow of storing, in the relay server 300, credentialinformation for acquiring a permission for a predetermined request tothe first printing service system 100 will be described. FIG. 7 is asequence chart illustrating an example of a flow of credentialinformation storing processing executed in the printing system 10. Anorder of processing steps in the sequence chart is merely an example,and can be appropriately changed as long as there is no technicalcontradiction. Hereinafter, the flow of the credential informationstoring processing will be described with reference to FIG. 7 .

In step S100, an administrator registered in the first printing servicesystem 100 performs a predetermined operation of requesting storage ofcredential information via the input unit 430 of the terminal device400. Accordingly, for example, a uniform resource locator (URL) of acredential information storage confirmation page is input to the webbrowser 451 of the terminal device 400. Here, the credential informationstorage confirmation page is a page for confirming whether storage ofthe credential information may be actually performed. For example, thecredential information storage confirmation page may be a page includinga button for instructing whether to store the credential information.Since the storage of the credential information leads to availability ofan administrator right for a long period of time, the printing system 10inquires a user about an intention to store the credential informationby using the credential information storage confirmation page, therebyconfirming that the operation is not an erroneous operation of the user.After step S100, in step S101, the web browser 451 transmits, to thefirst printing service system 100, a request to acquire the credentialinformation storage confirmation page according to the input URL. Inresponse to this, in step S102, the authentication control unit 131 ofthe first printing service system 100 transmits the credentialinformation storage confirmation page to the web browser 451.Accordingly, in step S103, the web browser 451 displays the credentialinformation storage confirmation page on the display unit 420 of theterminal device 400.

Although processing for confirming whether the storage of the credentialinformation may be actually performed is performed in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 7 , this processing may be omitted. In this case, anoperation in step S104 to be described below corresponds to an operationof requesting storage of the credential information.

In step S104, the administrator inputs an instruction to permit thestorage of the credential information to the credential informationstorage confirmation page via the input unit 430. That is, theadministrator inputs, to the web browser 451, an instruction indicatingthat the intention to store the credential information is not an error.When such an instruction is input, in step S105, the web browser 451transmits an instruction to permit the storage of the credentialinformation to the relay server 300. In response to this, in step S106,the authentication control unit 331 of the relay server 300 instructsthe web browser 451 to access a predetermined redirect page. In thisstep, the predetermined redirect page is a long-term authenticationpage. Therefore, the authentication control unit 331 of the relay server300 transmits a URL of the long-term authentication page to the webbrowser 451. The long-term authentication page is a page for requestinga user to input administrator authentication information when thecredential information is to be stored for a long period of time. Instep S107, the web browser 451 transmits, to the first printing servicesystem 100, a request to acquire the long-term authentication pageaccording to the received URL. In response to this, in step S108, theauthentication control unit 131 of the first printing service system 100transmits the long-term authentication page to the web browser 451.Accordingly, in step S109, the web browser 451 displays the long-termauthentication page on the display unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

In step S110, the administrator inputs authentication information to thelong-term authentication page via the input unit 430. Specifically, forexample, the administrator inputs a user ID of the administrator, apassword, or the like. Here, required authentication information isauthentication information used in the first printing service system100, and specifically, the required authentication information is a userID, a password, and the like that are registered in advance. In stepS111, the web browser 451 transmits the input authentication informationto the first printing service system 100. The authentication controlunit 131 of the first printing service system 100 executesauthentication processing based on the authentication informationreceived from the web browser 451. That is, the authentication controlunit 131 determines whether the received authentication informationmatches administrator authentication information registered in advance.

When the authentication is successful in the authentication processing,that is, when the received authentication information matches theadministrator authentication information registered in advance, in stepS112, the authentication control unit 131 of the first printing servicesystem 100 issues an authentication code and further instructs the webbrowser 451 to access a predetermined redirect destination. Thepredetermined redirect destination is the relay server 300. Theauthentication code is passed to the relay server 300 by suchredirecting. Therefore, the authentication control unit 131 of the firstprinting service system 100 transmits a URL indicating the predeterminedredirect destination together with the authentication code to the webbrowser 451.

In step S113, the web browser 451 accesses the predetermined redirectdestination together with the authentication code. Accordingly, therelay server 300 acquires the authentication code. In step S114, theauthentication control unit 331 of the relay server 300 transmits arequest for requesting generation of a token to the first printingservice system 100 together with the received authentication code. Theauthentication control unit 131 of the first printing service system 100issues credential information only when a request with a predeterminedauthentication code is received. In step S115, the authenticationcontrol unit 131 confirms that the authentication code received in stepS114 matches the authentication code transmitted in step S112, and thenissues credential information, and transmits the credential informationto the relay server 300. Specifically, the authentication control unit131 issues an administrator access token and a refresh token, andtransmits the tokens to the relay server 300. Accordingly, theauthentication control unit 331 of the relay server 300 acquires theadministrator access token and the refresh token.

The administrator access token is information for certifying that anaccess is a valid access of an administrator. In the embodiment, morespecifically, the administrator access token is information forcertifying that an access is a valid access of an administrator when auser accesses predetermined information managed by the first printingservice system 100. A validity period of the administrator access tokenis limited to a predetermined short period. For example, the validityperiod of the administrator access token is about several hours afterthe administrator access token is issued. The relay server 300 transmitsthe authentication code in order to issue the administrator access tokenin the above description, and more specifically, the relay server 300may further transmit authentication information that is referred to as aclient secret.

The refresh token is information for updating the administrator accesstoken, and a validity period of the refresh token is a predeterminedperiod longer than the validity period of the administrator accesstoken. For example, the validity period of the refresh token may beseveral days or may be an indefinite period. As will be described later,a new administrator access token and a new refresh token are issued whena valid refresh token is transmitted to the first printing servicesystem 100.

In the embodiment, the administrator access token and the refresh tokenare examples of credential information. The credential information mayrefer to only one of the administrator access token and the refreshtoken. As described above, information directly required to accesspredetermined information managed by the first printing service system100 is the administrator access token. Therefore, in particular, thecredential information may refer to only the administrator access token.A validity period of the administrator access token is not necessarilylimited to a short period. The validity period of the administratoraccess token may be an indefinite period. Further, when the validityperiod of the administrator access token is sufficiently long, therefresh token may not be used in the embodiment.

Description of the sequence chart illustrated in FIG. 7 will becontinued. After step S115, in step S116, the authentication controlunit 331 of the relay server 300 stores the credential informationacquired in step S115, that is, the refresh token and the administratoraccess token, in a database of the storage unit 310 or the like. In thismanner, the storage unit 310 stores credential information about anadministrator, that is, a user having an administrator right.Thereafter, in step S117, the authentication control unit 331 transmitsa credential information storage completion page to the web browser 451.The credential information storage completion page is a page fornotifying that the credential information is appropriately stored in therelay server 300. Accordingly, in step S118, the web browser 451displays the credential information storage completion page on thedisplay unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

Next, a processing flow of updating the credential information stored bythe relay server 300 will be described. FIG. 8 is a sequence chartillustrating an example of a flow of credential information updatingprocessing executed in the printing system 10. The updating processingillustrated in FIG. 8 is executed, for example, at a predeterminedtiming. Specifically, for example, the updating processing may beexecuted to update an administrator access token when printerregistration processing is executed, or may be executed periodically(for example, at an interval of one day) to update a refresh token. Anorder of processing steps in the sequence chart is merely an example,and can be appropriately changed as long as there is no technicalcontradiction. Hereinafter, the flow of the credential informationupdating processing will be described with reference to FIG. 8 .

In step S200, the authentication control unit 331 of the relay server300 executes processing of reading a database of the storage unit 310 orthe like. Accordingly, in step S201, the authentication control unit 331reads a refresh token that is currently stored in the database. Next, instep S202, the authentication control unit 331 transmits, to the firstprinting service system 100, a request for requesting to update a tokentogether with the refresh token that is currently stored in thedatabase.

The authentication control unit 131 of the first printing service system100 updates credential information only when a request with a validrefresh token is received. In step S203, the authentication control unit131 confirms that the refresh token received in step S202 is valid, andthen updates the credential information, and transmits the updatedcredential information to the relay server 300. Specifically, theauthentication control unit 131 transmits the updated administratoraccess token and the updated refresh token to the relay server 300.Accordingly, the authentication control unit 331 of the relay server 300acquires a new administrator access token and a new refresh token. Afterstep S203, in step S204, the authentication control unit 331 of therelay server 300 stores the credential information acquired in stepS203, that is, the refresh token and the administrator access token, ina database of the storage unit 310 or the like.

Next, a processing flow of registering a personal printer in the firstprinting service system 100 will be described. FIGS. 9A to 9C aresequence charts illustrating an example of a flow of personal printerregistration processing executed in the printing system 10. A personalprinter is a printer that is assumed to be used by a specific singleuser. Therefore, the personal printer can also be referred to as aprinter that is scheduled to be used only by a user who performed aregistration operation. That is, the personal printer is a printer thatis not shared by a plurality of users. An order of processing steps inthe sequence charts is merely an example, and can be appropriatelychanged as long as there is no technical contradiction. The flow of thepersonal printer registration processing will be described below withreference to FIGS. 9A to 9C.

In step S300, a general user who is not an administrator performs apredetermined operation for starting the personal printer registrationprocessing via the input unit 430 of the terminal device 400.Accordingly, for example, a URL of a printer registration page is inputto the web browser 451 of the terminal device 400. The printerregistration page is a page prepared to register a personal printer inthe first printing service system 100. After step S300, in step S301,the web browser 451 transmits, to the relay server 300, a request toacquire the printer registration page according to the input URL. Inresponse to this, in step S302, the registration reception unit 333 ofthe relay server 300 instructs the web browser 451 to access apredetermined redirect page. In this step, the predetermined redirectpage is an authentication page.

Therefore, the registration reception unit 333 of the relay server 300transmits a URL of the authentication page to the web browser 451. Theauthentication page is a page for requesting the user to inputauthentication information when a printer is to be registered. In stepS303, the web browser 451 transmits, to the first printing servicesystem 100, a request to acquire the authentication page according tothe received URL. In response to this, in step S304, the authenticationcontrol unit 131 of the first printing service system 100 transmits theauthentication page to the web browser 451. Accordingly, in step S305,the web browser 451 displays the authentication page on the display unit420 of the terminal device 400.

In step S306, a general user inputs authentication information to theauthentication page via the input unit 430. Specifically, for example,the general user inputs a user ID of the user, a password, or the like.Here, required authentication information is authentication informationused in the first printing service system 100, and specifically, therequired authentication information is a user ID, a password, and thelike that are registered in advance. In step S307, the web browser 451transmits the input authentication information to the first printingservice system 100. The authentication control unit 131 of the firstprinting service system 100 executes authentication processing based onthe authentication information received from the web browser 451. Thatis, the authentication control unit 131 determines whether the receivedauthentication information matches authentication information of thegeneral user registered in advance.

When the authentication is successful in the authentication processing,that is, when the received authentication information matches theauthentication information of the general user registered in advance, instep S308, the authentication control unit 131 of the first printingservice system 100 issues an authentication code and further instructsthe web browser 451 to access a predetermined redirect destination. Thepredetermined redirect destination is the relay server 300. Theauthentication code is passed to the relay server 300 by suchredirecting. Therefore, the authentication control unit 131 of the firstprinting service system 100 transmits a URL indicating the predeterminedredirect destination together with the authentication code to the webbrowser 451.

In step S309, the web browser 451 accesses the predetermined redirectdestination together with the authentication code. Accordingly, therelay server 300 acquires the authentication code. In step S310, theauthentication control unit 331 of the relay server 300 transmits arequest for requesting generation of a token to the first printingservice system 100 together with the received authentication code. Instep S311, the authentication control unit 131 of the first printingservice system 100 confirms that the authentication code received instep S310 matches the authentication code transmitted in step S308, andthen issues an access token, and transmits the access token to the relayserver 300. The access token is information for certifying that anaccess is a valid access of a general user, and is referred to as anormal access token in the following description. The normal accesstoken is also a type of credential information, but even when this kindof information is used, access as an administrator is not permitted inthe first printing service system 100. Therefore, when an access isperformed using the normal access token, among information managed bythe first printing service system 100, information requiring anadministrator right cannot be accessed. On the other hand, when anaccess is performed using the normal access token, information that doesnot require an administrator right can be accessed. In the embodiment,the information acquisition unit 334 of the relay server 300 acquires,using the normal access token, user information of a general user whoperforms an operation for registering a printer. Therefore, in stepS312, the information acquisition unit 334 of the relay server 300transmits, to the first printing service system 100, a request toacquire the user information of the general user who performs anoperation for registering a printer, together with the normal accesstoken acquired in step S311.

In response to this, in step S313, the information management unit 133of the first printing service system 100 confirms that the access tokenreceived in step S312 is valid, and then transmits the user informationof the general user to the relay server 300. Specifically, theinformation management unit 133 transmits a user ID and a user name ofthe general user managed by the first printing service system 100 to therelay server 300. Accordingly, the information acquisition unit 334 ofthe relay server 300 acquires the user information. The informationacquisition unit 334 of the relay server 300 may store the acquired userinformation in the storage unit 310 as necessary. Thereafter, in stepS314, the registration reception unit 333 transmits the printerregistration page to the web browser 451. Accordingly, in step S315, theweb browser 451 displays the printer registration page on the displayunit 420 of the terminal device 400.

In step S316, the general user performs a predetermined operation ofrequesting registration of a personal printer while designating aprinter to be registered via the input unit 430 of the terminal device400. Here, the printer to be registered is a printer that is to be newlyavailable for printing via the first printing service system 100. In theembodiment, the printer to be registered is not a printer connected tothe first printing service system 100, and is a printer connected to thesecond printing service system 200, that is, the image processing device500. The printer is registered in the first printing service system 100by being associated with a virtual printer registered in the firstprinting service system 100. In step S316, more specifically, thegeneral user inputs identification information for identifying theprinter to be registered to the printer registration page displayed instep S315. For example, the general user inputs identificationinformation of a printer owned by the general user. In the embodiment,for example, the general user inputs a mail address of the printer to beregistered as the identification information. That is, the mail addressof the printer to be registered is input to the web browser 451 of theterminal device 400. Other pieces of information that can uniquelyidentify the printer to be registered may be used instead of the mailaddress.

Next, in step S317, the web browser 451 transmits, to the relay server300, a request for requesting registration of the printer in the firstprinting service system 100 together with the mail address of theprinter to be registered. Accordingly, the registration reception unit333 acquires a registration instruction of the image processing device500 from the general user. In response to this, in step S318, theauthentication control unit 331 of the relay server 300 transmits themail address of the printer to be registered to the second printingservice system 200 and requests authentication. When there is a printercorresponding to the mail address and an access key such as a passwordis set in advance for the printer, processing from step S319 to stepS324 to be described later is executed, and it is determined that theauthentication is successful only when the access key is input. On theother hand, when there is a printer corresponding to the mail addressand an access key is not set for the printer, it is determined that theauthentication is successful without executing the processing from stepS319 to step S324 to be described later. Hereinafter, a case where anaccess key is set for the printer identified by the mail address will bedescribed.

In step S319, the authentication control unit 231 of the second printingservice system 200 requests the relay server 300 to transmit the accesskey. In response to this, in step S320, the authentication control unit331 of the relay server 300 transmits an input page for accepting aninput of the access key to the web browser 451. Accordingly, in stepS321, the web browser 451 displays an access key input page on thedisplay unit 420 of the terminal device 400. Next, in step S322, thegeneral user inputs an access key to the input page via the input unit430. In step S323, the web browser 451 transmits the input access key tothe relay server 300. In step S324, the authentication control unit 331of the relay server 300 transmits the mail address and the access key ofthe printer to be registered to the second printing service system 200,and requests authentication again. In response to this, theauthentication control unit 231 of the second printing service system200 performs authentication based on information transmitted from therelay server 300.

When the authentication is successful, in step S325, the authenticationcontrol unit 231 of the second printing service system 200 issues atoken and transmits the token to the relay server 300. The token is anaccess token for accessing predetermined information managed by thesecond printing service system 200. In step S326, the informationacquisition unit 334 of the relay server 300 that acquired the tokentransmitted from the second printing service system 200 transmits, tothe second printing service system 200, a request to acquire printerinformation about the printer to be registered together with the tokenacquired in step S325.

In response to this, in step S327, the information management unit 233of the second printing service system 200 confirms that the tokenreceived in step S326 is valid, and then transmits, to the relay server300, printer information about the image processing device 500 that isthe printer to be registered in the first printing service system 100.Specifically, the information management unit 233 transmits a printername, capability information, or the like of the printer that aremanaged by the second printing service system 200 to the relay server300. The printer name is displayed to identify a printer when a userselects the printer. The capability information is informationindicating printer capability, and can also be referred to asinformation for identifying a function of a printer. The capabilityinformation may be, for example, information indicating whether duplexprinting can be performed or information indicating whether colorprinting can be performed. In this manner, the information acquisitionunit 334 of the relay server 300 acquires the printer information, thatis, information about the image processing device 500, from the secondprinting service system 200. The information acquisition unit 334 of therelay server 300 may store the acquired printer information in thestorage unit 310 as necessary.

Next, in step S328, the registration setting unit 335 of the relayserver 300 determines a printer name of a virtual printer to beregistered in the first printing service system 100. As described above,registration of the printer to be registered in the first printingservice system 100 is realized by registering a virtual printerassociated with the printer to be registered. That is, in order to use,via the first printing service system 100, the image processing device500 that is a printer connected to the second printing service system200, a virtual printer associated with the printer connected to thesecond printing service system 200 is registered in the first printingservice system 100. That is, a physical printer connected to the secondprinting service system 200 is substantially registered in the firstprinting service system 100 by registering a virtual printer associatedwith the physical printer in the first printing service system 100. Theregistration setting unit 335 determines a printer name of the virtualprinter in order to register the virtual printer in the first printingservice system 100. In this step, specifically, the registration settingunit 335 determines the printer name of the virtual printer using theuser name acquired in step S313 and the printer name acquired in stepS327. For example, the registration setting unit 335 determines theprinter name of the virtual printer in a manner of including theacquired user name and the acquired printer name. The registrationsetting unit 335 may use one of the user name acquired in step S313 andthe printer name acquired in step S327. In the determination of theprinter name of the virtual printer, the registration setting unit 335may receive an instruction from the user. For example, the registrationsetting unit 335 may create a plurality of candidates for the printername, and the user may instruct to select one of the candidates. Theuser may instruct to add a character string to or delete a characterstring from the candidates of the printer name created by theregistration setting unit 335.

Next, in step S329, processing using an administrator access tokenstored in advance is executed. When the administrator access token isexpired, the credential information updating processing illustrated inFIG. 8 is executed to update the administrator access token. In stepS329, the registration setting unit 335 of the relay server 300 requeststhe first printing service system 100 to register the virtual printerusing the administrator access token. Specifically, in step S329, theregistration setting unit 335 transmits, to the first printing servicesystem 100, a request for requesting to create and register the virtualprinter to be associated with the printer to be registered, togetherwith the administrator access token. At this time, the registrationsetting unit 335 transmits the virtual printer name determined in stepS328 together with the request. That is, the registration setting unit335 requests to set the virtual printer name together with theregistration of the virtual printer.

As can be seen from step S328 and step S329, the registration settingunit 335 sets the virtual printer name that is one of the attributeinformation managed by the first printing service system 100, usinginformation acquired from the second printing service system 200. Thevirtual printer name managed by the first printing service system 100corresponds to a name of the image processing device 500 managed by thefirst printing service system 100. Therefore, it can be said that theregistration setting unit 335 sets the name of the image processingdevice 500 managed by the first printing service system 100 using theinformation acquired from the second printing service system 200. Inthis manner, since the attribute information managed by the firstprinting service system 100 is automatically set using the informationacquired from the second printing service system 200 in the embodiment,the attribute information can be easily set. In particular, in theembodiment, a name of the image processing device 500 managed by thefirst printing service system 100 is set using a printer name that is aname of the image processing device 500 managed by the second printingservice system 200. Accordingly, since a printer name corresponding to aprinter name used in the second printing service system 200 is used inthe first printing service system 100, a user can easily specify apersonal printer registered by the user when using the first printingservice system 100. In particular, in the embodiment, the name of theimage processing device 500 managed by the first printing service system100 is set using a name of a general user who performs an operation forregistering a printer. Accordingly, a user can easily specify a personalprinter registered by the user when using the first printing servicesystem 100.

Next, in step S330, the information management unit 133 of the firstprinting service system 100 confirms that the administrator access tokenreceived in step S329 is valid, and then registers a new virtual printerin the first printing service system 100. At this time, the informationmanagement unit 133 sets the virtual printer name received in step S329as a printer name of the newly registered virtual printer. Theinformation management unit 133 determines a virtual printer ID for thenew virtual printer as identification information of the new virtualprinter, and notifies the relay server 300 of completion of theregistration of the virtual printer together with the virtual printerID.

Thereafter, in step S331 to step S333, setting processing for the newlyregistered virtual printer is executed. Specifically, in step S331, theregistration setting unit 335 of the relay server 300 transmits arequest to set capability information of the newly registered virtualprinter to the first printing service system 100 together with theadministrator access token. At this time, the registration setting unit335 transmits the virtual printer ID notified in step S330 and thecapability information acquired in step S327 together with the request.In response to this, the information management unit 133 of the firstprinting service system 100 confirms that the administrator access tokenreceived in step S331 is valid, and sets a virtual printer specified bythe received virtual printer ID. Specifically, the informationmanagement unit 133 sets the received capability information ascapability information of the virtual printer specified by the receivedvirtual printer ID. Accordingly, the capability information of thecreated virtual printer is set. Although a request to set the capabilityinformation is transmitted in step S331 in this sequence chart, arequest to set a virtual printer name may be transmitted. That is, thevirtual printer name determined in step S328 may be set in a stepdifferent from a virtual printer registration step. In this case, instep S329, the first printing service system 100 may not be notified ofthe virtual printer name, or the first printing service system 100 maybe notified of a default virtual printer name.

In this manner, in step S331, the registration setting unit 335 alsosets the capability information that is one of the attribute informationmanaged by the first printing service system 100, using the capabilityinformation that is the information acquired from the second printingservice system 200 in the embodiment. Accordingly, since the attributeinformation managed by the first printing service system 100 isautomatically set using the information acquired from the secondprinting service system 200, the attribute information can be easilyset.

In step S332 and step S333, the registration setting unit 335 of therelay server 300 performs setting related to shared use of the newlyregistered virtual printer. That is, in step S332 and step S333, anaccess right for the printer is set. Here, since setting for using theprinter to be registered as a personal printer is performed, thefollowing specific processing is executed.

In step S332, the registration setting unit 335 first executesprocessing for creating sharing information. As described above, here,since it is necessary to prevent a user other than the general user whoperforms an operation for registering a printer from using the printerto be registered, sharing information for not permitting sharing withany one user is created. More specifically, in step S332, theregistration setting unit 335 transmits a request to set sharinginformation of the newly registered virtual printer to the firstprinting service system 100 together with the administrator accesstoken. At this time, together with the request, the registration settingunit 335 also transmits the virtual printer ID notified in step S330 andan instruction for designating that sharing with any one user is notpermitted. At this time, the registration setting unit 335 may transmita sharing name for identifying the newly created sharing information tothe first printing service system 100. For example, the virtual printername determined in step S328 may be used as such a sharing name.Transmission of the sharing name may be omitted. In response to this,the information management unit 133 of the first printing service system100 confirms that the administrator access token received in step S332is valid, and then creates sharing information of the virtual printerspecified by the virtual printer ID based on the received information.Specifically, the information management unit 133 creates sharinginformation indicating that sharing with any one user is not permitted.

In step S333, the registration setting unit 335 executes processing ofcorrecting the sharing information such that, among general users, onlya general user who performs an operation for registering a printer canuse the printer registered by the general user. In other words, theregistration setting unit 335 corrects the sharing information so as topermit only access from the general user who performs an operation forregistering a printer among the general users. Specifically, in stepS333, the registration setting unit 335 transmits, to the first printingservice system 100, a request to correct the sharing information so asto permit the general user who performs an operation for registering aprinter to use the virtual printer, together with the administratoraccess token. At this time, the registration setting unit 335 transmitsthe user ID acquired in step S313 as identification information of thegeneral user who performs an operation for registering a printer. Inresponse to this, the information management unit 133 of the firstprinting service system 100 confirms that the administrator access tokenreceived in step S333 is valid, and then updates the sharing informationbased on the received information. Specifically, the informationmanagement unit 133 updates the sharing information so as to permit useof a user having the received user ID.

In this manner, in step S332 and step S333, the registration settingunit 335 sets the sharing information corresponding to an access rightof the printer to be registered. In other words, the registrationsetting unit 335 sets information for specifying a user who can accessthe virtual printer, that is, a user who can access the image processingdevice 500 corresponding to the virtual printer. Accordingly, since anaccess right is automatically set, attribute information can be easilyset. In particular, in the embodiment, the registration setting unit 335sets the sharing information, that is, the attribute information of theprinter so as to permit only access from a general user who performs anoperation for registering a printer among general users. Therefore, itis possible to prevent another user from using the printer. Inparticular, as will be described later, the first printing servicesystem 100 performs control such that only a printer to which a user hasan access right is included in an option when the user designates aprinter to be used for printing in the embodiment. Therefore, a user caneasily select an available printer when the user instructs printing.

Although the setting of the sharing information is performed in twosteps of step S332 and step S333 in the sequence chart illustrated here,processing in the two steps may be executed in one step.

After step S333, in step S334, the registration setting unit 335 of therelay server 300 stores information obtained by the series of processingdescribed above in a database of the storage unit 310 or the like inorder to use the information for controlling whether printing by theregistered printer is permitted. More specifically, the registrationsetting unit 335 stores the virtual printer ID, the user ID, the printermail address, and the access key in the database. At this time, theregistration setting unit 335 stores the user ID acquired in step S313as a user ID of the general user who performs an operation forregistering a printer (hereinafter also referred to as a registrationuser ID) in the database. As described above, the storage unit 310stores identification information of a user who issued a personalprinter registration instruction. When an access key is not set in theprinter, storage of the access key is omitted in this step.

In step S335, the web browser 451 inquires the relay server 300 whetherthe printer registration processing is completed. In response to this,in step S336, the registration setting unit 335 of the relay server 300transmits a registration completion page that is a page indicating thatthe registration is completed to the web browser 451. Accordingly, instep S337, the web browser 451 displays the registration completion pageon the display unit 420 of the terminal device 400. Although the step ofinquiring whether the printer registration processing is completed isperformed after step S334 in the sequence chart illustrated here, theinquiring step may be performed periodically before step S334. In thiscase, the registration setting unit 335 may transmit a page indicatingthat the registration is not completed to the web browser 451.

The processing flow of registering a personal printer in the firstprinting service system 100 is described above using the sequence chart.As can be seen from this sequence chart, in the embodiment, when aprinter registration instruction is acquired from a general user, therelay server 300 registers a printer in the first printing servicesystem 100, and sets attribute information related to the registeredprinter using credential information stored in advance. Therefore,according to the embodiment, when a general user registers a printer inthe first printing service system 100, both registration and setting canbe performed, which improves convenience. In particular, in the setting,a user name of the user who performs a registration operation is used asa virtual printer name, and sharing information is set such that theuser can access the sharing information. In this manner, settingaccording to the user who performs a registration operation isperformed. With regard to this aspect, convenience is also improved.

Next, a processing flow of registering a shared printer in the firstprinting service system 100 will be described. FIGS. 10A to 10D aresequence charts illustrating an example of a flow of shared printerregistration processing executed in the printing system 10. A sharedprinter is a printer that is assumed to be used by a plurality of users.That is, a shared printer is a printer shared by a plurality of users.An order of processing steps in the sequence chart is merely an example,and can be appropriately changed as long as there is no technicalcontradiction. The flow of the shared printer registration processingwill be described below with reference to FIGS. to 10D.

In step S400, an administrator performs a predetermined operation forstarting the shared printer registration processing via the input unit430 of the terminal device 400. Accordingly, for example, a URL of ashared printer registration page is input to the web browser 451 of theterminal device 400. The shared printer registration page is a pageprepared to register a shared printer in the first printing servicesystem 100. After step S400, in step S401, the web browser 451transmits, to the relay server 300, a request to acquire the sharedprinter registration page according to the input URL. In response tothis, in step S402, the registration reception unit 333 of the relayserver 300 instructs the web browser 451 to access a predeterminedredirect page. In this step, the predetermined redirect page is anauthentication page. Therefore, the registration reception unit 333 ofthe relay server 300 transmits a URL of the authentication page to theweb browser 451.

In step S403, the web browser 451 transmits, to the first printingservice system 100, a request to acquire the authentication pageaccording to the received URL. In response to this, in step S404, theauthentication control unit 131 of the first printing service system 100transmits the authentication page to the web browser 451. Accordingly,in step S405, the web browser 451 displays the authentication page onthe display unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

In step S406, the administrator inputs authentication information to theauthentication page via the input unit 430. Specifically, for example,the administrator inputs a user ID of the administrator, a password, orthe like. Here, required authentication information is authenticationinformation used in the first printing service system 100, andspecifically, the required authentication information is a user ID, apassword, and the like that are registered in advance. In step S407, theweb browser 451 transmits the input authentication information to thefirst printing service system 100. The authentication control unit 131of the first printing service system 100 executes authenticationprocessing based on the authentication information received from the webbrowser 451. That is, the authentication control unit 131 determineswhether the received authentication information matches administratorauthentication information registered in advance.

When the authentication is successful in the authentication processing,that is, when the received authentication information matches theadministrator authentication information registered in advance, in stepS408, the authentication control unit 131 of the first printing servicesystem 100 issues an authentication code and further instructs the webbrowser 451 to access a predetermined redirect destination. Thepredetermined redirect destination is the relay server 300. Theauthentication code is passed to the relay server 300 by suchredirecting. Therefore, the authentication control unit 131 of the firstprinting service system 100 transmits a URL indicating the predeterminedredirect destination together with the authentication code to the webbrowser 451.

In step S409, the web browser 451 accesses the predetermined redirectdestination together with the authentication code. Accordingly, therelay server 300 acquires the authentication code. In step S410, theauthentication control unit 331 of the relay server 300 transmits arequest for requesting generation of an administrator token to the firstprinting service system 100 together with the received authenticationcode. In step S411, the authentication control unit 131 of the firstprinting service system 100 confirms that the authentication codereceived in step S410 matches the authentication code transmitted instep S408, and then issues an administrator access token, and transmitsthe administrator access token to the relay server 300. Thereafter, instep S412, the registration reception unit 333 transmits the sharedprinter registration page to the web browser 451. Accordingly, in stepS413, the web browser 451 displays the shared printer registration pageon the display unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

In step S414, the administrator performs a predetermined operation ofrequesting registration of a shared printer while designating a printerto be registered via the input unit 430 of the terminal device 400. Inthe embodiment, the printer to be registered is not a printer connectedto the first printing service system 100, and is a printer connected tothe second printing service system 200, that is, the image processingdevice 500. The printer is registered in the first printing servicesystem 100 by being associated with a virtual printer registered in thefirst printing service system 100. In step S414, more specifically, theadministrator inputs identification information for identifying theprinter to be registered and information for designating a sharer to theshared printer registration page displayed in step S413. For example,the administrator inputs the information for designating a sharer andidentification information of a printer installed at a place where thedesignated sharer can use the printer. The information for designating asharer may be information for designating a user belonging to a specificgroup as a sharer. In this case, the information for designating asharer may be identification information for specifying a group, such asa group ID. Instead of the identification information for specifying agroup, a user ID of an individual user among a plurality of usersdesignated as sharers may be input. The information for designating asharer may be information for designating any user, that is, all users,as a sharer. In the embodiment, for example, the administrator inputs amail address of the printer to be registered as printer identificationinformation. That is, the mail address of the printer to be registeredis input to the web browser 451 of the terminal device 400. Other piecesof information that can uniquely identify the printer to be registeredmay be used instead of the mail address.

Next, in step S415, the web browser 451 transmits, to the relay server300, a request for requesting registration of the printer in the firstprinting service system 100 together with the information fordesignating a sharer and the mail address of the printer to beregistered. Accordingly, the registration reception unit 333 acquires aregistration instruction of the image processing device 500 from theadministrator. In response to this, in step S416, the authenticationcontrol unit 331 of the relay server 300 transmits the mail address ofthe printer to be registered to the second printing service system 200and requests authentication. When there is a printer corresponding tothe mail address and an access key such as a password is set in advancefor the printer, processing from step S417 to step S422 to be describedlater is executed, and it is determined that the authentication issuccessful only when the access key is input. On the other hand, whenthere is a printer corresponding to the mail address and an access keyis not set for the printer, it is determined that the authentication issuccessful without executing the processing from step S417 to step S422to be described later. Hereinafter, a case where an access key is setfor the printer identified by the mail address will be described.

In step S417, the authentication control unit 231 of the second printingservice system 200 requests the relay server 300 to transmit the accesskey. In response to this, in step S418, the authentication control unit331 of the relay server 300 transmits, to the web browser 451, an inputpage for accepting an input of the access key. Accordingly, in stepS419, the web browser 451 displays the input page of the access key onthe display unit 420 of the terminal device 400. Next, in step S420, theadministrator inputs an access key to the input page via the input unit430. In step S421, the web browser 451 transmits the input access key tothe relay server 300. In step S422, the authentication control unit 331of the relay server 300 transmits the mail address and the access key ofthe printer to be registered to the second printing service system 200,and requests authentication again. In response to this, theauthentication control unit 231 of the second printing service system200 performs authentication based on information transmitted from therelay server 300.

When the authentication is successful, in step S423, the authenticationcontrol unit 231 of the second printing service system 200 issues atoken and transmits the token to the relay server 300. The token is anaccess token for accessing predetermined information managed by thesecond printing service system 200. In step S424, the informationacquisition unit 334 of the relay server 300 that acquired the tokentransmitted from the second printing service system 200 transmits, tothe second printing service system 200, a request to acquire printerinformation about the printer to be registered, together with the tokenacquired in step S423.

In response to this, in step S425, the information management unit 233of the second printing service system 200 confirms that the tokenreceived in step S424 is valid, and then transmits, to the relay server300, the printer information about the image processing device 500 thatis the printer to be registered in the first printing service system100. Specifically, the information management unit 233 transmits aprinter name, capability information, or the like of the printer thatare managed by the second printing service system 200 to the relayserver 300. In this manner, the relay server 300 acquires the printerinformation. The information acquisition unit 334 of the relay server300 may store the acquired printer information in the storage unit 310as necessary.

Next, in step S426, the registration setting unit 335 of the relayserver 300 determines a printer name of a virtual printer to beregistered in the first printing service system 100. That is, in stepS426, in order to register a virtual printer associated with a physicalshared printer in the first printing service system 100, theregistration setting unit 335 determines a printer name of the virtualprinter. In this step, specifically, the registration setting unit 335determines the printer name of the virtual printer using the printername acquired in step S425. For example, the registration setting unit335 determines the printer name of the virtual printer in a manner ofincluding the acquired printer name.

Next, in step S427, the registration setting unit 335 of the relayserver 300 requests the first printing service system 100 to registerthe virtual printer using the administrator access token acquired instep S411. Specifically, in step S427, the registration setting unit 335transmits, to the first printing service system 100, a request forrequesting to create and register a virtual printer to be associatedwith the printer to be registered, together with the administratoraccess token. At this time, the registration setting unit 335 transmitsthe virtual printer name determined in step S426 together with therequest. That is, the registration setting unit 335 requests to set thevirtual printer name together with the registration of the virtualprinter.

In response to this, in step S428, the information management unit 133of the first printing service system 100 confirms that the administratoraccess token received in step S427 is valid, and then registers a newvirtual printer in the first printing service system 100. At this time,the information management unit 133 sets the virtual printer namereceived in step S427 as a printer name of the newly registered virtualprinter. The information management unit 133 determines a virtualprinter ID for the new virtual printer as identification information ofthe new virtual printer, and notifies the relay server 300 of completionof the registration of the virtual printer together with the virtualprinter ID.

Thereafter, in step S429 to step S432, setting processing for the newlyregistered virtual printer is executed. Specifically, in step S429, theregistration setting unit 335 of the relay server 300 transmits arequest to set capability information of the newly registered virtualprinter to the first printing service system 100 together with theadministrator access token. At this time, the registration setting unit335 transmits the virtual printer ID notified in step S428 and thecapability information acquired in step S425 together with the request.In response to this, the information management unit 133 of the firstprinting service system 100 confirms that the administrator access tokenreceived in step S429 is valid, and sets a virtual printer specified bythe received virtual printer ID. Specifically, the informationmanagement unit 133 sets the received capability information ascapability information of the virtual printer specified by the receivedvirtual printer ID. Accordingly, the capability information of thecreated virtual printer is set. Although a request to set the capabilityinformation is transmitted in step S429 in this sequence chart, arequest to set the virtual printer name may be transmitted. That is, thevirtual printer name determined in step S426 may be set in a stepdifferent from a virtual printer registration step. In this case, instep S427, the first printing service system 100 may not be notified ofthe virtual printer name, or the first printing service system 100 maybe notified of a default virtual printer name.

In step S430, step S431, and step S432, the registration setting unit335 of the relay server 300 performs setting related to shared use ofthe newly registered virtual printer. That is, in step S430, step S431,and step S432, an access right for the printer is set. Here, sincesetting for using the printer to be registered as a shared printer isperformed, the following specific processing is executed. When theshared printer is shared with any one user, that is, when the relayserver 300 receives information for designating any one user as a sharerin step S415, the registration setting unit 335 executes processing instep S430 to be described below. When the shared printer is shared by auser belonging to a specific group, that is, when the relay server 300receives information for designating a user belonging to a specificgroup as a sharer in step S415, the registration setting unit 335executes processing in step S431 and step S432 to be described below.

When the relay server 300 receives information for designating any oneuser as a sharer, the registration setting unit 335 executes processingfor creating sharing information in step S430. As described above, sinceit is required that any one user can use the printer to be registeredhere, sharing information that permits sharing with any one user iscreated. More specifically, in step S430, the registration setting unit335 transmits a request to set sharing information of the newlyregistered virtual printer to the first printing service system 100together with the administrator access token. At this time, togetherwith the request, the registration setting unit 335 transmits thevirtual printer ID notified in step S428 and an instruction fordesignating that sharing with any one user is permitted. At this time,the registration setting unit 335 may transmit a sharing name foridentifying the newly created sharing information to the first printingservice system 100. For example, the virtual printer name determined instep S426 may be used as such a sharing name. Transmission of thesharing name may be omitted. In response to this, the informationmanagement unit 133 of the first printing service system 100 confirmsthat the administrator access token received in step S430 is valid, andthen creates sharing information of the virtual printer specified by thevirtual printer ID based on the received information. Specifically, theinformation management unit 133 creates sharing information indicatingthat sharing with any one user is permitted.

In this manner, in step S430, the registration setting unit 335 setssharing information corresponding to an access right of the printer tobe registered. In other words, the registration setting unit 335 setsinformation for specifying a user who can access the virtual printer,that is, a user who can access the image processing device 500corresponding to the virtual printer. Accordingly, since an access rightis automatically set, attribute information can be easily set.

When the relay server 300 receives information for designating a userbelonging to a specific group as a sharer, the registration setting unit335 first executes processing for creating sharing information in stepS431. Since it is required to prevent a user other than the userbelonging to a specific group from using the printer to be registered,sharing information for not permitting sharing with any one user iscreated. More specifically, in step S431, the registration setting unit335 transmits a request to set sharing information of the newlyregistered virtual printer to the first printing service system 100together with the administrator access token. At this time, togetherwith the request, the registration setting unit 335 also transmits thevirtual printer ID notified in step S428 and an instruction fordesignating that sharing with any one user is not permitted. At thistime, the registration setting unit 335 may transmit a sharing name foridentifying the newly created sharing information to the first printingservice system 100. For example, the virtual printer name determined instep S426 may be used as such a sharing name. Transmission of thesharing name may be omitted. In response to this, the informationmanagement unit 133 of the first printing service system 100 confirmsthat the administrator access token received in step S431 is valid, andthen creates sharing information of the virtual printer specified by thevirtual printer ID based on the received information. Specifically, theinformation management unit 133 creates sharing information indicatingthat sharing with any one user is not permitted.

In step S432, the registration setting unit 335 executes processing ofcorrecting the sharing information such that only a user belonging to aspecific group can use the printer to be registered. Specifically, instep S432, the registration setting unit 335 transmits, to the firstprinting service system 100, a request to correct the sharinginformation so as to permit a user belonging to a specific group to usethe virtual printer, together with the administrator access token. Atthis time, the registration setting unit 335 transmits, for example, agroup ID acquired in step S415 as information for specifying a user forwhom sharing is permitted. In response to this, the informationmanagement unit 133 of the first printing service system 100 confirmsthat the administrator access token received in step S432 is valid, andthen updates the sharing information based on the received information.Specifically, the information management unit 133 updates the sharinginformation such that a user specified by the received group ID ispermitted to use the virtual printer.

In this manner, in step S431 and step S432, the registration settingunit 335 sets sharing information corresponding to an access right ofthe printer to be registered. In other words, the registration settingunit 335 sets information for specifying a user who can access thevirtual printer, that is, a user who can access the image processingdevice 500 corresponding to the virtual printer.

Accordingly, since an access right is automatically set, attributeinformation can be easily set.

Although the setting of the sharing information is performed in twosteps of step S431 and step S432 in the sequence chart illustrated inFIG. 10C, processing in the two steps may be executed in one step.

After step S430 or step S432, in step S433, the registration settingunit 335 of the relay server 300 stores information obtained by theseries of processing described above in a database of the storage unit310 or the like in order to use the information for controlling whetherprinting by the registered printer is permitted. More specifically, theregistration setting unit 335 stores the virtual printer ID, the printermail address, and the access key in the database. When an access key isnot set in the printer, storage of the access key is omitted in thisstep. In the sequence chart, since a shared printer is registered by anoperation of an administrator instead of registering a personal printerby an operation of a general user, the registration setting unit 335does not store a user ID of a specific user as a registration user ID.Instead, the registration setting unit 335 stores a specific value (forexample, a NULL value) that is not a user ID of a specific user in thedatabase as a registration user ID.

In step S434, the web browser 451 inquires the relay server 300 whetherthe printer registration processing is completed. In response to this,in step S435, the registration setting unit 335 of the relay server 300transmits a registration completion page that is a page indicating thatthe registration is completed to the web browser 451. Accordingly, instep S436, the web browser 451 displays the registration completion pageon the display unit 420 of the terminal device 400. Although the step ofinquiring whether the printer registration processing is completed isperformed after step S433 in the sequence chart illustrated here, theinquiring step may be performed periodically before step S433. In thiscase, the registration setting unit 335 may transmit a page indicatingthat the registration is not completed to the web browser 451.

Next, a flow of printing processing when printing performed by the imageprocessing device 500 that is a printer connected to the second printingservice system 200 is performed via the first printing service system100 will be described. FIGS. 11A to 11C and FIG. 12 are sequence chartsillustrating an example of a flow of printing processing executed in theprinting system 10. In particular, these sequence charts show a flow ofprinting processing when a user designates printing performed by aprinter that is connected to the second printing service system 200 andis already registered in the first printing service system 100 by theregistration processing illustrated in FIGS. 9A to 9C or FIGS. 10A to10D. An order of processing steps in the sequence chart is merely anexample, and can be appropriately changed as long as there is notechnical contradiction. The flow of the printing processing will bedescribed below with reference to FIGS. 11A to 11C and FIG. 12 .

In step S500, a general user performs, via the input unit 430 of theterminal device 400, a predetermined operation for printing data to beprinted. Hereinafter, data to be printed is referred to as printingdata. Specifically, for example, a general user performs an operation ofdesignating a printer to be used for printing, printing data, andprinting setting. Here, as described above, the image processing device500 that is a printer connected to the second printing service system200 is designated as the printer to be used for printing. Morespecifically, a virtual printer corresponding to the image processingdevice 500 is designated. In the embodiment, the printing control unit132 of the first printing service system 100 performs control such thatonly a printer to which a user has an access right is included in anoption of the printer to be used for printing. More specifically, theprinting control unit 132 constitutes a user interface screen so thatonly the printer to which a user has an access right is displayed as anoption of the printer to be used for printing.

The printing setting designated in step S500 is a setting value set inthe printer for printing. For example, the printing setting includes,but is not limited to, a setting value for designating a size of a sheetto be used, a setting value for designating whether to perform colorprinting, and a setting value for designating whether to perform duplexprinting.

When the operation in step S500 is performed, in step S501, the printingrequest unit 452 of the terminal device 400 requests the first printingservice system 100 to perform printing. At this time, the printingrequest unit 452 transmits a user ID of a user who instructed theprinting in step S500, a virtual printer ID of the designated printer,the designated printing setting, and the designated printing data to thefirst printing service system 100. Then, the first printing servicesystem 100 acquires these pieces of information.

Next, in step S502, the printing control unit 132 of the first printingservice system 100 creates a printing job based on the informationreceived in step S501, and notifies the relay server 300 of the presenceof the printing job. Specifically, the printing control unit 132notifies the relay server 300 of a job ID that is identificationinformation of the printing job, and the virtual printer ID of thedesignated printer. In step S503, the printing control unit 132 notifiesthe terminal device 400 of the job ID.

When the relay server 300 receives the notification transmitted in stepS502, in step S504, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server300 transmits a request to acquire job information to the first printingservice system 100. Specifically, the printing control unit 332transmits the request together with the virtual printer ID and the jobID notified in step S504. In response to this, in step S505, theprinting control unit 132 of the first printing service system 100transmits the user ID and the printing setting received in step S501 anda URL indicating a storage location of the printing data received instep S501 to the relay server 300 as job information. In the followingdescription, the URL indicating a storage location of the printing datais referred to as a printing data URL.

When the relay server 300 receives the job information, in step S506,the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300 executesprocessing of reading a database of the storage unit 310 or the like inorder to acquire information stored in association with the receivedvirtual printer ID. Accordingly, in step S507, the printing control unit332 reads a registration user ID, a printer mail address, and an accesskey that are stored in association with the virtual printer ID. Thesepieces of information are the information stored in step S334 or stepS433 described above.

After step S507, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300executes determination processing for preventing a personal printer frombeing used by an inappropriate user. Specifically, the printing controlunit 332 determines whether a user other than a general user whoperforms an operation for registering a personal printer performs anoperation for printing using the personal printer. As long as use of thepersonal printer is not requested by an inappropriate user, that is, aslong as a user other than the general user who performs an operation forregistering a personal printer does not perform an operation forprinting using the personal printer, the processing from step S508 tostep S520 is executed. On the other hand, when the use of the personalprinter is requested by an inappropriate user, that is, when a userother than the general user who performs an operation for registering apersonal printer performs an operation for printing using the personalprinter, printing is not performed, and in step S521 to be describedlater, the printing control unit 332 outputs an error to the firstprinting service system 100.

The printing control unit 332 more specially executes the followingdetermination processing as the determination processing for preventingthe personal printer from being used by an inappropriate user. In a casewhere the designated printer is registered in the first printing servicesystem 100 as a personal printer, the printing control unit 332determines that use of the personal printer is not requested by aninappropriate user when a user who registered the designated printer inthe first printing service system 100 matches a user who instructedprinting. Specifically, for example, in a case where a value of theregistration user ID read in step S507 is not NULL value, the printingcontrol unit 332 determines that the personal printer is not used by aninappropriate user when the user ID received in step S505 matches theregistration user ID read in step S507. In this case, the printingcontrol unit 332 transmits a printing request to the second printingservice system 200 in step S508 to be described later.

On the other hand, in a case where the designated printer is registeredin the first printing service system 100 as a personal printer, theprinting control unit 332 determines that use of the personal printer isrequested by an inappropriate user when a user who registered theprinter in the first printing service system 100 is different from auser who instructed printing. Specifically, for example, in a case wherea value of the registration user ID read in step S507 is not NULL value,the printing control unit 332 determines that the personal printer isused by an inappropriate user when the user ID received in step S505does not match the registration user ID read in step S507. At this time,printing is not performed and an error is output. In this case, theprinting control unit 332 does not transmit a printing request to thesecond printing service system 200.

In this manner, in a case where a personal printer is designated as aprinter used in printing according to a printing job, the printingcontrol unit 332 transmits a printing request for requesting printing bythe personal printer only when the printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing instruction from a user who registered thepersonal printer. In this case, more specifically, the printing controlunit 332 determines whether to transmit the printing request bycomparing the registration user ID that is identification informationstored for a registration user with a user ID that is identificationinformation of a user who issues a printing instruction corresponding toa printing job. According to such a configuration, it is possible toprevent a user other than a certain user from using a personal printerregistered by the certain user. Note that even when an access right isset to restrict a general user who can access the personal printer toonly a user who registered the personal printer, a user who has a higherright than the user who registered the personal printer, such as anadministrator, may be able to use the personal printer. The access rightof the personal printer that is attribute information managed by thefirst printing service system 100 is information that can be freely setby an administrator. Accordingly, an administrator may erroneously setto give an access right of the personal printer to another user. Thatis, in these cases, the personal printer may be used by another user. Onthe other hand, as described above, the relay server 300 collates theregistration user with the user who instructed printing and determineswhether the personal printer can be used in the embodiment. Therefore,in the cases described above, it is possible to appropriately preventthe personal printer from being used by another user.

In a case where the designated printer is registered in the firstprinting service system 100 as a shared printer, the printing controlunit 332 determines that use of the personal printer is not requested byan inappropriate user regardless of the user who instructed printing.Specifically, for example, when the value of the registration user IDread in step S507 is NULL value, the printing control unit 332determines that the personal printer is not used by an inappropriateuser regardless of the user who instructed printing. In this case, theprinting control unit 332 transmits a printing request to the secondprinting service system 200 in step S508 to be described later.

In this manner, when a shared printer is designated as a printer used inprinting according to a printing job, the printing control unit 332transmits a printing request for requesting printing by the sharedprinter to the second printing service system 200 regardless of theprinting job is a printing job corresponding to a printing instructionof which user. Therefore, a user who does not register a personalprinter can also use the printing service by using the system.

In step S508, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300requests the second printing service system 200 to perform printing. Atthis time, the printing control unit 332 transmits the printer mailaddress and the access key read in step S507 and the printing settingand the printing data URL acquired in step S505 to the second printingservice system 200. In this manner, the printing control unit 332 has afunction of transmitting a printing request to the second printingservice system 200 in response to a printing job from the first printingservice system 100.

When the second printing service system 200 receives the printingrequest from the relay server 300, in step S509, the printing controlunit 232 of the second printing service system 200 accesses the printingdata URL notified in step S508 in order to acquire the printing data.Accordingly, in step S510, the printing control unit 232 of the secondprinting service system 200 acquires the printing data from the firstprinting service system 100.

After step S510, in step S511, the printing control unit 232 convertsthe printing data acquired in step S510 into printing data conforming toa predetermined printer language. Thereafter, in step S512, the printingcontrol unit 232 notifies the image processing device 500 that is aprinter to be used for printing of the presence of a printing job forprinting the converted printing data. The printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing job managed by the first printing servicesystem 100, and is a printing job managed by the printing control unit232 of the second printing service system 200. Therefore, an ID is newlyassigned in addition to a value of the job ID described above.Hereinafter, an ID of the printing job managed by the printing controlunit 232 of the second printing service system 200 is referred to as ajob ID 2. In step S513, the printing control unit 232 of the secondprinting service system 200 notifies the relay server 300 of the job ID2. In response to this, in step S514, the printing control unit 332 ofthe relay server 300 executes processing of storing a correspondencerelationship between the printing job of the first printing servicesystem 100 and the printing job of the second printing service system200. More specifically, the printing control unit 332 stores a virtualprinter ID, a job ID of the first printing service system 100, a printerID of the printer to be used for printing, and a job ID of the secondprinting service system 200, that is, the job ID 2, in a database of thestorage unit 310 or the like in association with one another.

When the image processing device 500 receives the notificationtransmitted in step S512, in step S515, the printing processing unit 541of the image processing device 500 transmits a request to acquire theprinting data to the second printing service system 200. In response tothis, in step S516, the printing control unit 232 of the second printingservice system 200 transmits the converted printing data to the imageprocessing device 500.

After step S516, the notification processing illustrated in the sequencechart in FIG. 12 is executed each time a job state changes. Thereafter,processing of step S517 is executed. Here, a flow of the processingexecuted each time a job state changes will be described with referenceto FIG. 12 . For example, the processing illustrated in FIG. 12 isexecuted when printing processing is started in the image processingdevice 500 or when an error occurs after the printing processing isstarted. An order of processing steps in the sequence chart is merely anexample, and can be appropriately changed as long as there is notechnical contradiction.

In step S600, the printing processing unit 541 of the image processingdevice 500 notifies the second printing service system 200 of a jobstate. When the second printing service system 200 receives thisnotification, in step S601, the printing control unit 232 of the secondprinting service system 200 notifies the relay server 300 of the jobstate notified in step S600 together with the printer ID and the job ID2. Accordingly, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300acquires the job state of the printing processing executed by the imageprocessing device 500.

When the relay server 300 receives the notification of the job state, instep S602, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300executes processing of reading a database of the storage unit 310 or thelike to acquire information stored in association with the receivedprinter ID and job ID 2. Accordingly, in step S603, the printing controlunit 332 reads a virtual printer ID and a job ID that are stored inassociation with the received printer ID and job ID 2. In step S604, theprinting control unit 332 of the relay server 300 notifies the firstprinting service system 100 of the job state notified in step S601together with the virtual printer ID and the job ID. That is, when theprinting control unit 332 acquires the job state from the secondprinting service system 200, the printing control unit 332 transmits thejob state to the first printing service system 100.

In the embodiment, the first printing service system 100 manages notonly a job state but also a printer state. On the other hand, the secondprinting service system 200 manages a job state but does not manage aprinter state. Here, the job state refers to a processing state for eachprinting job, in other words, a processing state for each piece ofprinting processing, and the printer state refers to a state of aprinter that affects all printing jobs processed by a single printer, inother words, affects all pieces of printing processing processed by asingle printer.

In the embodiment, in order to notify the first printing service system100 of a printer state, in step S605, the printing control unit 332 ofthe relay server 300 executes processing of determining a printer stateusing the job state notified from the second printing service system200. That is, the printing control unit 332 determines a state of theimage processing device 500 based on the job state acquired from thesecond printing service system 200. Accordingly, in step S606, a printerstate of a virtual printer is determined. Specifically, when the jobstate notified from the second printing service system 200 indicates anerror that does not depend on a printing job, the printing control unit332 also uses the job state as a printer state. For example, when thejob state notified from the second printing service system 200 indicatesa printing error due to shortage of a printing medium, the printingcontrol unit 332 determines that a printer state of the image processingdevice 500 and a virtual printer associated with the image processingdevice 500 is a state in which a printer is short of a printing medium(a printing medium shortage state). The printing medium is, for example,paper, and may be a medium made of a material other than paper. Forexample, when the job state notified from the second printing servicesystem 200 indicates a printing error due to shortage of a colormaterial, the printing control unit 332 determines that a printer stateof the image processing device 500 and a virtual printer associated withthe image processing device 500 is a state in which a printer is shortof a color material (a color material shortage state). The colormaterial is, for example, ink, and may be toner or the like. When thejob state notified from the second printing service system 200 is astate in which printing is normally performed, the printing control unit332 may use the job state as a printer state. That is, the printingcontrol unit 332 may determine that the printer state is a printingstate.

In step S607, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300notifies the first printing service system 100 of the printer state ofthe virtual printer determined in step S606 together with the virtualprinter ID. That is, the printing control unit 332 transmits a state ofthe image processing device 500 to the first printing service system100. Accordingly, when the job state notified from the second printingservice system 200 in step S601 indicates a printing error due to, forexample, paper shortage or ink shortage, the first printing servicesystem 100 is notified of the printing error due to paper shortage orink shortage as a job state and is notified of a paper shortage state oran ink shortage state as a printer state.

On the other hand, when the job state notified from the second printingservice system 200 indicates an error specific to a printing job, theprinting control unit 332 does not reflect the job state in a printerstate. For example, when the job state notified from the second printingservice system 200 indicates a printing error due to a communicationerror, the printing control unit 332 does not reflect the job state in aprinter state of the image processing device 500 and the virtual printerassociated with the image processing device 500. For example, when thejob state notified from the second printing service system 200 indicatescancellation of a printing job based on an instruction or the like froma user, the printing control unit 332 does not reflect the job state ina printer state of the image processing device 500 and the virtualprinter associated with the image processing device 500. Accordingly,when the job state notified from the second printing service system 200in step S601 indicates, for example, a communication error orcancellation of a printing job, the first printing service system 100 isnotified of the communication error or the cancellation of the printingjob as a job state, and the first printing service system 100 is notnotified of a printer state.

In step S608, the state output unit 453 of the terminal device 400transmits, to the first printing service system 100, a request foracquiring job information by designating a virtual printer ID and a jobID. In response to this, in step S609, the printing control unit 132 ofthe first printing service system 100 transmits the job state receivedin step S604 to the terminal device 400. Accordingly, in step S610, thestate output unit 453 of the terminal device 400 displays the job stateon the display unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

In step S611, the state output unit 453 of the terminal device 400transmits, to the first printing service system 100, a request toacquire a printer state by designating a virtual printer ID. In responseto this, in step S612, the printing control unit 132 of the firstprinting service system 100 transmits the printer state received in stepS607 to the terminal device 400. Accordingly, in step S613, the stateoutput unit 453 of the terminal device 400 displays the printer state onthe display unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

As can be seen from this sequence chart, each time a job state isupdated, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300 transmitsthe updated job state to the first printing service system 100.Therefore, a user can appropriately know a current job state via thefirst printing service system 100.

Returning to FIG. 11B, processing in step S517 and subsequent steps willbe described. In step S517, when the printing processing is completed,the printing processing unit 541 of the image processing device 500notifies the second printing service system 200 of the completion of theprinting by notifying a processing result of the printing job.Specifically, the printing processing unit 541 performs notification onwhether the printing processing is normally completed. That is, theprinting processing unit 541 performs notification on whether theprinting is successful or failed. When the second printing servicesystem 200 receives this notification, in step S518, the printingcontrol unit 232 of the second printing service system 200 notifies therelay server 300 of the processing result notified in step S517 as a jobstate together with the printer ID and the job ID 2. Accordingly, theprinting control unit 332 of the relay server 300 acquires the job stateof the printing processing executed by the image processing device 500.

When the relay server 300 receives the notification of the job state, instep S519, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server 300executes processing of reading a database of the storage unit 310 or thelike in order to acquire information stored in association with thereceived printer ID and job ID 2. Accordingly, in step S520, theprinting control unit 332 reads the virtual printer ID and the job IDthat are stored in association with the received printer ID and job ID2.

Next, in step S521, the printing control unit 332 of the relay server300 notifies the first printing service system 100 of the job statetogether with the virtual printer ID and the job ID. That is, when theprinting control unit 332 acquires the job state from the secondprinting service system 200, the printing control unit 332 transmits thejob state to the first printing service system 100. As described above,when it is determined that use of a personal printer is requested by aninappropriate user, the processing up to step S520 is skipped, and instep S521, the first printing service system 100 is notified of a jobstate indicating a printing failure due to use of a personal printer byan inappropriate user. More specifically, in this case, the firstprinting service system 100 is notified of occurrence of an error due touse of a personal printer by an inappropriate user.

In step S522, the state output unit 453 of the terminal device 400transmits, to the first printing service system 100, a request toacquire job information by designating a virtual printer ID and a jobID. In response to this, in step S523, the printing control unit 132 ofthe first printing service system 100 transmits the job state receivedin step S521 to the terminal device 400. Accordingly, in step S524, thestate output unit 453 of the terminal device 400 displays the job stateon the display unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

When the relay server 300 receives the notification of the processingresult of the printing job, in step S525, the printing control unit 332of the relay server 300 determines that a state of the image processingdevice 500 and the virtual printer is an idle state (a standby state),and notifies the first printing service system 100 of the printer state.More specifically, the printing control unit 332 determines that theprinter state of the virtual printer and the image processing device 500associated with the virtual printer is an idle state when the printingprocessing is normally completed for all printing jobs of the samevirtual printer, that is, the same image processing device 500. In thismanner, the printing control unit 332 determines a state of the imageprocessing device 500 based on the job state acquired from the secondprinting service system 200. In step S525, specifically, the printingcontrol unit 332 notifies the first printing service system 100 that theprinter state of the virtual printer is the idle state together with thevirtual printer ID. In this manner, the printing control unit 332transmits the state of the image processing device 500 to the firstprinting service system 100.

Thereafter, in step S526, the state output unit 453 of the terminaldevice 400 transmits, to the first printing service system 100, arequest to acquire the printer state by designating a virtual printerID. In response to this, in step S527, the printing control unit 132 ofthe first printing service system 100 transmits information indicatingthat the printer state is the idle state to the terminal device 400.Accordingly, in step S528, the state output unit 453 of the terminaldevice 400 displays the information indicating that the printer state isthe idle state on the display unit 420 of the terminal device 400.

The flow of the printing processing when printing performed by a printerconnected to the second printing service system 200 is performed via thefirst printing service system 100 is described above using the sequencecharts. As can be seen from these sequence charts, the printing controlunit 332 of the relay server 300 relays printing job information forprinting of the printing data between the first printing service system100 and the second printing service system 200. The image processingdevice 500 prints the printing data based on the printing jobinformation relayed by the relay server 300. Therefore, in a system inwhich the first printing service system 100 and the second printingservice system 200 cooperate with each other, the image processingdevice 500 can perform printing.

As can be seen from these sequence charts, in the embodiment, theprinting control unit 332 of the relay server 300 acquires a job stateof printing processing executed by the image processing device 500 fromthe second printing service system 200, and transmits the job state tothe first printing service system 100. Therefore, the first printingservice system 100 can provide information about the job state to auser. As described above, the job state transmitted to the firstprinting service system 100 may be a job state indicating a state inwhich a printing error occurs after the execution of the printingprocessing, or may be a job state indicating a state in which theprinting processing is normally completed. The printing control unit 332of the relay server 300 determines a state of the image processingdevice 500 based on the job state acquired from the second printingservice system 200, and transmits the state of the image processingdevice 500 to the first printing service system 100. Therefore, thefirst printing service system 100 can provide information about thestate of the image processing device 500 to a user. The first printingservice system 100 is connected to the terminal device 400 that acquiresand outputs the job state and the state of the image processing device500 via the first printing service system 100. Therefore, a user caneasily know the job state and the state of the image processing device500 using the terminal device 400.

The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment described above,and can be appropriately modified without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure. For example, the relay server 300 may beincluded in the second printing service system 200. According to thisconfiguration, for example, a same vendor can easily manage the relayserver 300 and the second printing service system 200. Although thesecond printing service system 200 acquires the printing data from thefirst printing service system 100 in the embodiment described above, therelay server 300 may acquire the printing data from the first printingservice system 100, and the relay server 300 may transmit the printingdata to the second printing service system 200. Although an example inwhich a general user registers a personal printer is described in theembodiment described above, for a general user, an administrator mayregister a personal printer of the general user.

In the example described above, a program includes an instruction group(or a software code) for causing a computer to execute one or morefunctions described in the embodiment when the program is read by thecomputer. The program may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium or a physical storage medium. Examples of thecomputer-readable medium or the physical storage medium include, but notlimited to, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), aflash memory, a solid-state drive (SSD), other memory technologies, aCD-ROM, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray (registered trademark)disk, other optical disk storages, a magnetic cassette, a magnetic tape,and a magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices. Theprogram may be transmitted on a temporary computer-readable medium or acommunication medium. Examples of the temporary computer-readable mediumor the communication medium include, but not limited to, a propagationsignal in an electrical format, an optical format, an acoustic format,or other formats.

A part or all of the embodiment described above may be described as thefollowing appendixes, but are not limited thereto.

Appendix 1

A server connected to a first printing service system and a secondprinting service system, the second printing service system beingconnected to a first image processing device and a second imageprocessing device, the server including:

-   -   a registration reception unit configured to acquire a        registration instruction of the first image processing device        from a first user having a first right or a registration        instruction of the second image processing device from a second        user having a second right that is a right more restricted than        the first right;    -   a registration unit configured to register the first image        processing device in the first printing service system when the        registration instruction of the first image processing device is        acquired, and register the second image processing device in the        first printing service system when the registration instruction        of the second image processing device is acquired; and    -   a printing control unit configured to transmit a printing        request to the second printing service system according to a        printing job from the first printing service system, in which    -   in a case where the second image processing device is designated        as an image processing device used in printing according to the        printing job, the printing control unit transmits the printing        request for requesting printing by the second image processing        device to the second printing service system only when the        printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printing        instruction of the second user, and    -   in a case where the first image processing device is designated        as an image processing device used in printing according to the        printing job, the printing control unit transmits the printing        request for requesting printing by the first image processing        device to the second printing service system regardless of the        printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printing        instruction of which user.

Appendix 2

The server according to the Appendix 1, further including:

-   -   a storage unit configured to store identification information of        the second user that is a user who issued the registration        instruction of the second image processing device, in which    -   the printing control unit determines whether to transmit the        printing request for requesting printing by the second image        processing device to the second printing service system by        comparing the stored identification information of the second        user with identification information of a user who issued a        printing instruction corresponding to the printing job.

Appendix 3

The server according to Appendix 1 or 2, further including:

-   -   a setting unit configured to set information for specifying a        user who is accessible to the first image processing device or        the second image processing device, that is, set information        managed by the first printing service system, when the first        image processing device or the second image processing device is        registered, in which    -   when the setting is performed for the second image processing        device, the setting unit performs setting such that only access        from the second user among users having the second right is        permitted.

Appendix 4

The server according to any one of Appendixes 1 to 3, in which

-   -   the registration unit registers the first image processing        device and the second image processing device in the first        printing service system as virtual devices.

Appendix 5

The server according to any one of Appendixes 1 to 4, in which

-   -   the server is included in the second printing service system.

Appendix 6

A printing system including:

-   -   a first printing service system;    -   a first image processing device;    -   a second image processing device;    -   a second printing service system connected to the first image        processing device and the second image processing device; and    -   a server connected to the first printing service system and the        second printing service system, in which    -   the server includes        -   a registration reception unit configured to acquire a            registration instruction of the first image processing            device from a first user having a first right or a            registration instruction of the second image processing            device from a second user having a second right that is a            right more restricted than the first right,        -   a registration unit configured to register the first image            processing device in the first printing service system when            the registration instruction of the first image processing            device is acquired, and register the second image processing            device in the first printing service system when the            registration instruction of the second image processing            device is acquired, and        -   a printing control unit configured to transmit a printing            request to the second printing service system according to a            printing job from the first printing service system,    -   in a case where the second image processing device is designated        as an image processing device used in printing according to the        printing job, the printing control unit transmits the printing        request for requesting printing by the second image processing        device to the second printing service system only when the        printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printing        instruction of the second user,    -   in a case where the first image processing device is designated        as an image processing device used in printing according to the        printing job, the printing control unit transmits the printing        request for requesting printing by the first image processing        device to the second printing service system regardless of the        printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printing        instruction of which user, and    -   the first image processing device or the second image processing        device executes printing processing based on the printing        request.

Appendix 7

An information processing method for a server connected to a firstprinting service system and a second printing service system, the secondprinting service system being connected to a first image processingdevice and a second image processing device, the information processingmethod including:

-   -   acquiring a registration instruction of the first image        processing device from a first user having a first right or a        registration instruction of the second image processing device        from a second user having a second right that is a right more        restricted than the first right;    -   registering the first image processing device in the first        printing service system when the registration instruction of the        first image processing device is acquired, and registering the        second image processing device in the first printing service        system when the registration instruction of the second image        processing device is acquired; and    -   transmitting a printing request to the second printing service        system according to a printing job from the first printing        service system, in which    -   in processing of transmitting the printing request,        -   in a case where the second image processing device is            designated as an image processing device used in printing            according to the printing job, the printing request for            requesting printing by the second image processing device is            transmitted to the second printing service system only when            the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a            printing instruction of the second user, and        -   in a case where the first image processing device is            designated as an image processing device used in printing            according to the printing job, the printing request for            requesting printing by the first image processing device is            transmitted to the second printing service system regardless            of the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a            printing instruction of which user.

Appendix 8

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program, theprogram causing a computer to execute following steps, the computerbeing a computer of a server connected to a first printing servicesystem and a second printing service system, the second printing servicesystem being connected to a first image processing device and a secondimage processing device, the steps including:

-   -   a registration reception step of acquiring a registration        instruction of the first image processing device from a first        user having a first right or a registration instruction of the        second image processing device from a second user having a        second right that is a right more restricted than the first        right;    -   a registration step of registering the first image processing        device in the first printing service system when the        registration instruction of the first image processing device is        acquired, and registering the second image processing device in        the first printing service system when the registration        instruction of the second image processing device is acquired;        and    -   a printing control step of transmitting a printing request to        the second printing service system according to a printing job        from the first printing service system, in which    -   in the printing control step,        -   in a case where the second image processing device is            designated as an image processing device used in printing            according to the printing job, the printing request for            requesting printing by the second image processing device is            transmitted to the second printing service system only when            the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a            printing instruction of the second user, and        -   in a case where the first image processing device is            designated as an image processing device used in printing            according to the printing job, the printing request for            requesting printing by the first image processing device is            transmitted to the second printing service system regardless            of the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a            printing instruction of which user.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server connected to a first printing servicesystem and a second printing service system, the second printing servicesystem being connected to a first image processing device and a secondimage processing device, the server comprising: a registration receptionunit configured to acquire a registration instruction of the first imageprocessing device from a first user having a first right or aregistration instruction of the second image processing device from asecond user having a second right that is a right more restricted thanthe first right; a registration unit configured to register the firstimage processing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the first image processing device isacquired, and register the second image processing device in the firstprinting service system when the registration instruction of the secondimage processing device is acquired; and a printing control unitconfigured to transmit a printing request to the second printing servicesystem according to a printing job from the first printing servicesystem, wherein in a case where the second image processing device isdesignated as an image processing device used in printing according tothe printing job, the printing control unit transmits the printingrequest for requesting printing by the second image processing device tothe second printing service system only when the printing job is aprinting job corresponding to a printing instruction of the second user,and in a case where the first image processing device is designated asan image processing device used in printing according to the printingjob, the printing control unit transmits the printing request forrequesting printing by the first image processing device to the secondprinting service system regardless of the printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing instruction of which user.
 2. The serveraccording to claim 1, further comprising: a storage unit configured tostore identification information of the second user that is a user whoissued the registration instruction of the second image processingdevice, wherein the printing control unit determines whether to transmitthe printing request for requesting printing by the second imageprocessing device to the second printing service system by comparing thestored identification information of the second user with identificationinformation of a user who issued a printing instruction corresponding tothe printing job.
 3. The server according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a setting unit configured to set information for specifyinga user who is accessible to the first image processing device or thesecond image processing device, that is, set information managed by thefirst printing service system, when the first image processing device orthe second image processing device is registered, wherein when thesetting is performed for the second image processing device, the settingunit performs setting such that only access from the second user amongusers having the second right is permitted.
 4. The server according toclaim 1, wherein the registration unit registers the first imageprocessing device and the second image processing device in the firstprinting service system as virtual devices.
 5. The server according toclaim 1, wherein the server is included in the second printing servicesystem.
 6. A printing system comprising: a first printing servicesystem; a first image processing device; a second image processingdevice; a second printing service system connected to the first imageprocessing device and the second image processing device; and a serverconnected to the first printing service system and the second printingservice system, wherein the server includes a registration receptionunit configured to acquire a registration instruction of the first imageprocessing device from a first user having a first right or aregistration instruction of the second image processing device from asecond user having a second right that is a right more restricted thanthe first right, a registration unit configured to register the firstimage processing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the first image processing device isacquired, and register the second image processing device in the firstprinting service system when the registration instruction of the secondimage processing device is acquired, and a printing control unitconfigured to transmit a printing request to the second printing servicesystem according to a printing job from the first printing servicesystem, in a case where the second image processing device is designatedas an image processing device used in printing according to the printingjob, the printing control unit transmits the printing request forrequesting printing by the second image processing device to the secondprinting service system only when the printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing instruction of the second user, in a casewhere the first image processing device is designated as an imageprocessing device used in printing according to the printing job, theprinting control unit transmits the printing request for requestingprinting by the first image processing device to the second printingservice system regardless of the printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing instruction of which user, and the firstimage processing device or the second image processing device executesprinting processing based on the printing request.
 7. An informationprocessing method for a server connected to a first printing servicesystem and a second printing service system, the second printing servicesystem being connected to a first image processing device and a secondimage processing device, the information processing method comprising:acquiring a registration instruction of the first image processingdevice from a first user having a first right or a registrationinstruction of the second image processing device from a second userhaving a second right that is a right more restricted than the firstright; registering the first image processing device in the firstprinting service system when the registration instruction of the firstimage processing device is acquired, and registering the second imageprocessing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the second image processing device isacquired; and transmitting a printing request to the second printingservice system according to a printing job from the first printingservice system, wherein in processing of transmitting the printingrequest, in a case where the second image processing device isdesignated as an image processing device used in printing according tothe printing job, the printing request for requesting printing by thesecond image processing device is transmitted to the second printingservice system only when the printing job is a printing jobcorresponding to a printing instruction of the second user, and in acase where the first image processing device is designated as an imageprocessing device used in printing according to the printing job, theprinting request for requesting printing by the first image processingdevice is transmitted to the second printing service system regardlessof the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printinginstruction of which user.
 8. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing a program, the program causing a computer to executefollowing steps, the computer being a computer of a server connected toa first printing service system and a second printing service system,the second printing service system being connected to a first imageprocessing device and a second image processing device, the stepscomprising: a registration reception step of acquiring a registrationinstruction of the first image processing device from a first userhaving a first right or a registration instruction of the second imageprocessing device from a second user having a second right that is aright more restricted than the first right; a registration step ofregistering the first image processing device in the first printingservice system when the registration instruction of the first imageprocessing device is acquired, and registering the second imageprocessing device in the first printing service system when theregistration instruction of the second image processing device isacquired; and a printing control step of transmitting a printing requestto the second printing service system according to a printing job fromthe first printing service system, wherein in the printing control step,in a case where the second image processing device is designated as animage processing device used in printing according to the printing job,the printing request for requesting printing by the second imageprocessing device is transmitted to the second printing service systemonly when the printing job is a printing job corresponding to a printinginstruction of the second user, and in a case where the first imageprocessing device is designated as an image processing device used inprinting according to the printing job, the printing request forrequesting printing by the first image processing device is transmittedto the second printing service system regardless of the printing job isa printing job corresponding to a printing instruction of which user.